Railroad-spike.



A B. BAXTER. RAILROAD SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED APRJS, 1911.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

AVERY IB. BAX'I'ER, OF FREDERICK, OKLAHOMA.

RAILROAD-SPIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

Application filed April 19, 1911. Serial No. 622,038.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AVERY B. BAXTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Frederick, in the county of Tillman and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Spikcs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railroad spikes and has for its object the provision of a comparatively simple and thoroughly efficient device of this character, the construction of which is such as eifectua-lly to prevent the spike from working loose in a cross tie;

A further object of the invention is to provide a spike having its front and rear edges provided with spaced transversely disposed anchoring notches arranged in staggered relation so that when the spike is driven into a cross tie, the fiber of the wood will enter said notches and thus firmly anchor the spike in position on the cross tie.

A further object is to formthe head of the spike with transverse seating grooves to facilitate withdrawing the spike from a cross tie when necessary.

A still further object of the invention is generally to improve this class of devices so as to increase their utility, durability and efiicieney, as well as to reduce the cost of manufacture.

Further objects and advantages will appear in the following description, it being understood that various changes in form, proportions and minor details of construction may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claim.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railroad spike constructed in accordance wit-h my invention, showing the same in position on a railroad tie and engaging the rail thereof; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the spikes detached; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the same reference characters.

The improved r'ailroad spike forming the .mbject matter of the present invention comprises a body portion or shank 5, preferably rectangular in cross section, as shown, and

having its front and rear longitudinal edges.

inclined or beveled to form a terminal point 6 adapted to be driven or otherwise embedded in a cross tie, indicated at 7. The shank 5 is provided with a head 8 having an overhanging portion 9, the lower face of which is inclined or beveled at 10 for engagement with the correspondingly inclined surface of the base of a rail 11 so that when the spike is driven into a cross tie, the overhanging portion 9 of said spike will firmly grip the flange ofvthe rail, as best shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

The front and rear longitudinal edges of the shank 5 are formed with spaced transverse anchoring notches 12, preferably disposed in staggered relation and adapted to receive the fiber of the wood constituting the cross tie so as to firmly anchor the spike in the tie and effectually prevent said spike from working loose. The notches 12 are provided with square shoulders 13 disposed entirely within the lines of the shank 5 so as not to offer any obstruction to the passage of the spike in the tie, while at the same time forming abutments for engagement with the fiber of the wood to assist in bolding said spike against accidental displacement.

The rear end of the head 8 is provided with an enlargement 14 terminating at a point in a plane slightly below the inclined face 10 of the head to form a square shoulder 15 adapted to bear against the upper surface of the cross tie when the spike is driven into place. The opposite sides of the head 8 are undercut at 16 to form transverse grooves, which latter intersect the flat face 17 of the enlargement 14 and serve to receive a spike puller, so as to permit the withdrawal of the spike from the tie when necessary, without the necessity of drlving the spike puller into said tie in the usual manner.

It will be here noted that the enlargement 14: not only serves to reinforce and strengthen the head of the spike, but also forms a support for the spike puller when extracting said s ike from a tie. It will also be noted that t e outer face of each auxiliary notch is provided with a fiat face 18 intersecting the adjacent shoulder 13, said faces 18 being disposed in vertical alinement with the adjacent longitudinal edges of the shank of the spike so as to facilitate driving the latter into a cross tie or other support. In

using the spike, the latter is positioned on the cross tie 7 and driven into said tie with a mall, hammer or other suitable tool, until the inclined face 10 thereof bears against the correspondingly inclined face of the rail and the shoulder 15 bears against the upper surface of the tie, and in which position, the anchoring notches 12 will engage the fiber of the wood and eifectually prevent accidental withdrawal of the spike.' V

The spikes may be made in different sizes and shapes and formed with any desired number of anchoring notches without departing from the spirit of the invention.

By referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing it will be observed that the entering end of the shank of the spike at that side at which the overhanging portion of the head is located, is curved downwardly in the direction of the vertical median line ofpthe shank and that the opposite side of the entering end of the shank is similarly curved except that the first mentioned port-ion extends higher up upon the shank. As a result, when the spike is driven mm a wooden railway tie, the-fiber of the wood at that side of the opening, made by the shank of the spike, next adjacent the rail, will be pressed aside more gently than will be the fiber at the opposite side of the opening thus made. As a result, the fiber at the first mentioned side of the openin will sink more firmly into the notches in t 1e corresponding ing a driving point and provided on its front and rear longitudinal edges with transverse anchoring notches disposed in staggered relation and defining square shoulders extending the entire width of said shank, the longitudinal edges at the sides of the spike bein smooth and unobstructed, there being a at face of the same width as the shank of the spike formed on the front and rear longitudinal edges thereof beneath each anchoring notch and intersecting the adjacent shoulder, the flat faces on each edge of the spike being all disposed 1n the same vertical plane, and the height of saidfaces being less that the height of the inclined walls forming said notches.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AVERY B. BAXTER. [L. a] Witnesses:

A. ALLEN, G. L. MILLICAN, 

